Eagleheart's Third Season is Something Special: Just Ask Chris Elliott and Maria Thayer

No one would ever claim Eagleheart was a series for everyone. It’s an outwardly irreverent affair that plays with a dead seriousness and more than a dash of self-deprecation. Given its elevated premise, kooky surrealism, and the general nincompoopery displayed by its lead character, Chris Monsanto (played by Chris Elliott), there’s plenty to give rise to a good ol’ fashioned head-scratcher session. But once you immerse yourself in the premise and the show’s universe you see it for the absurdist performance piece that it is. And never was that more evident than in the series’ upcoming third season (premiering November 14), dubbed Eagleheart: Paradise Rising. While still featuring favorites like the charmingly hilarious Maria Thayer and the goofy Brett Gelman, season three also has something none of its previous iterations did: a season-long story arc.

“Say what?” you gasp. “I know!” I reply. “It’s true! It’s true!” It seems our fair Eagleheart is growing up a bit — but only in that regard. And while that might cause fear to strike the hearts of some, it’s actually a breakthrough. For a show built on action-packed, incredibly short episodes that tell a whole story in under 15 minutes, it may be a shock to the system at first. But having watched the first three episodes, it’s clear to see: if anything, this through line elevates the show and makes the mockery that is Eagleheart all the better.

“I think this is sort of the natural progression of where it needed to go,” explained Elliott. “It feels like this was lurking in the background of everybody’s minds all along. Maybe even subconsciously.”

And it all feels natural, too: the first three episodes are still played fast and packed. Now, though, there is a chance for a bit of character development. Things are heightened even further. It’s an incredibly tricky balancing act that has proven itself an exciting challenge for Elliott.

“It’s not anything that I’ve been able to do in what I’ve done before,” Elliott said. “I mean anything I’ve ever created is always somewhat sketch oriented. I haven’t wanted people to give a shit about my character, so you know — it’s a new experience for me.”

What’s evident from talking to the Get a Life funnyman is that his sense of humor is unstoppable — it seeps into everything he does and sometimes it takes a minute (or, say, 30 minutes worth of interview transcribing) to catch every instance of his own comedic commentary. It is equally self-deprecating, knowing, absurdist, and knowing — it seems almost impossible for Elliott to be anything but a truly funny guy. Even simple things (like, uh, checking your notes, for example) turn into moments. It’s not hard to see why his fans are so loyal.

Chris: “I wrote a bunch [of notes].”
Cinemablend: “What sort of notes?”
Chris: “…Well I have the word ‘meta’ written several times.”
Maria: “You got that one in.”
Chris: “I wrote the word ‘brilliant’ written and then a drawing of me next to it, which — I don’t know what that was. Then I have a lot of drawings which I can’t go into.”
Maria: “I have ‘Hallmark’ written on my pad.”
Chris: "Why would you have that?”
Maria: “I wrote it to remind myself not to bring it up.”